Here's some general info on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is linked with a lot of the common AI problems, gastric reflux, and is good to know, also, though not mentioned in this article, there is a connection with methotrexate and something about pred below. If anyone wants any more info, let me know. This is a silent disease, progressing to cirrhosis and death with no symptoms, my grandmother died at 60 of it. Also, more common in women, of course, overweight women with diabetes. Same condition as "diabetic liver".

Often, medicine inserts and doctors tell us that we will get certain symptoms from certain meds, but don't tell us why we are getting them. For example, they may tell us that a medicine might give us a headache, but they don't tell us the condition it is causing to give us the headache. Headache alone doesn't sound like a big deal, but the underlying condition causing the headache might be something you would choose not to have, if you knew.

This is just info that I think is important because it is a silent killer of overweight women in middle age or even children, may be hereditary, is linked with other autoimmune and endocrine conditions, and is the reason that regular liver function tests are recommended with our medications. Now that they are determining that this condition is serious (everyone on dad's side of the family has it and dies from it, male and female), that not everyone with fatty liver is an alcoholic, and that as many as one in four people with it will require liver transplants, and there is treatment and things to do to help--diet and exercise, I just felt it was important to share. It is a very common cause of the fat pregnant belly type obesity that I have.

It does make me a good bouy in the water though, don't need a life jacket to float!

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but if you know ahead of time what can happen from insulin resistance from eating too many carbs and sweets, from weight, and from medicines and the docs not running those liver tests regularly, then you can make better choices hopefully or at least know what to expect. I hope that no one has this and if you think diet isn't important, I hope this convinces you that it is. This disease is one of the fastest growing diseases and emerged with the development of complex carbohydrate foods on the market, though there are other causes. And if you had a relative die from cirrhosis that was accused of being an alcoholic and wasn't, you now know what it was.

Take care and I hope this post helps maybe someone. If you have gastric reflux and possible liver problems, you need be extra careful to keep your GR under control and to heal it as much as possible.Love, Marji

--Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less in human beings of whom they know nothing.--Voltaire (1694-1778)

Thanks Marji,I have SLE, GR and AIH!! I just had surgery to get the scar tissue off the liver. It was attached to the abdominal wall. Please send me more Info....n_kempe@netins.net.ThanksNickiSLE 9/99-Autoimmune Hepititis 2006- The list is tooo long for me to type!! Just ask I will tell.

I sent you an email. Also these two sites are very very good for liver stuff, with videos, suggesting diet and other things. It explains how the liver works and does list corticosteroids as a cause of fatty liver, though you HAVE to take them when you have AI hepatitis, since it is the effective treatment for that disease. The AB and Cs of Hepa*** is a good video at this site.